MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's lacrosse team got their first victory of the season as they dominated Wittenberg University, 15-5, Tuesday (Feb. 24) evening. The Pioneers are now 1-1 on the season and the Tigers fall to 0-2 overall.

"Great all around team win today," Marietta head coach Lindsay Reho said.  "We had a focus on winning the ground ball battle and we were able to dominate in that category and come out on top. A big shout out to our two rookies Lydia and Maddie on their first collegiate goals"

The Pioneers hit the scoreboard first as Mallory Wiles (Worthington, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) fired a shot within the first three minutes to give Marietta the quick lead.  Wittenberg responded on the next possession as Elise Jantzen scored to tie it at one.  Lydia McCarter (Fort Mill, S.C./Catawba Ridge) broke the tie with her first career goal and Molly Dickens (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) followed with a pair of scores to extend the Pioneer lead to three.  Later in the period, with a Pioneer in the penalty box, Wiles was still able to find the back of the net and, in the closing seconds, Renee Mulvaney (Midland, Mich./Midland) scored a free-position score and Pioneer led 6-2 going into the second period.
 
Both squads had trouble getting the offense going in the second period but Marietta got a goal from Maggie Downard (Canal Fulton, Ohio/Jackson) in the final two minutes.   The Pioneers took a 7-2 lead going into halftime.

Marietta kept up the offensive explosion in the third period as McCarter scored four minutes in and Fiona Betzhold added a score at the 7:05 mark.  Later in the period, Maddie Hayboer got the first score of her career and Wiles tacked on another goal, giving Marietta a 12-4 going into the fourth period.
 
Mulvaney, Downard, and Wiles tacked on fourth quarter scores and the Pioneer lead was too large to overcome.  Marietta would go on to claim the 15-5 victory.

Tessa Labrasciano (Brandon, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior) got the start and faced 10 shots on goal, making six saves.  Morgan Parker (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln) finished the fourth quarter and made a pair of saves.  
 
Wiles led with four goals and assisted on three more.  Downard scored three goals.  Mulvaney scored a pair of goals and also assisted on three others.  Wiles, Heyboer, and McCarter all had six groundballs apiece.  Alyana Francis led the team with four draw controls.  McCarter led with two caused turnovers.
 
Marietta returns home this Saturday (Feb. 28) as they host Hiram College with the game scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on X and Instagram.